"Hey, you remember what I said last year, right? We're Zombie Boy and Ghost Boy. I'm not ever gonna leave you."
"Promise?"
"One hundred percent."
***
In which Alistair fights the monster that possessed his friend alongside his friends, while trying...
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Chapter Fifteen: Meeting In The Rain
(The Case Of The Missing Lifeguard, Pt. 3)
***
Alistair's legs burned as he biked to the Byers house, panting with the exertion. Above, the sky boomed as rain poured down, blinding him and soaking him to the bone. But Alistair didn't care, wiping the water away and powering on, knowing he had to get to Will's. He could feel Hugin, somewhere in the storm—the raven had felt his emotions and immediately flew from the open window of the trailer to fly overhead, camouflaged by the storm and the rapidly descending darkness as day bled into night.
Thunder roared as lightning lit up the sky. Rain lashed at his face. Alistair gritted his teeth, forcing himself to keep biking.
He hd to get to Will. He had to.
Finally, the Byers house appeared.
Alistair hopped off his bike and discarded it a metre away, running up to the porch and banging on the door, Hugin flying down and landing in his curls, croaking.
"Will!" he shouted. "It's Al! Are you in there? Will!"
No response, no motion of the door being opened. Alistair grabbed the handle, trying to open it but it wouldn't open. Alistair banged on the door and yelled, "Will!"
Nothing.
Panic clawed at Alistair's throat, remembering the fear of the ghosts, the last time Will was missing, before he shook his head. No. It's gone. The gate is closed and the Mind Flayer and Hawkins Lab are gone. Will's okay. I just need to find Will.
Stepping back, Alistair tried to think where else Will could be. There was no way he'd be at Starcourt or the arcade, and Alistair was pretty sure he wouldn't be at his trailer. The only other place he could think of was...
"Castle Byers," he whispered.
Eyes wide, Alistair turned and ran for the woods, Hugin flying ahead—right for the fort. He halted, waiting for Hugin to come back and instruct him on where to go.
Two heartbeats later, Hugin flew back, cawing before he flew away, croaking, This way.
Alistair followed, listening to Hugin as the raven directed him, tramping through the rain-lashed woods. He squinted in the dark, regretting not bringing a flashlight as much as he regretted not bringing a raincoat, trusting in Hugin and the undead raven's keener night vision to lead him to Castle Byers. To Will.
When a dim glow pierced the night, Alistair almost wilted in relief.
Hugin croaked as he landed on the sign of Castle Byers just as Will walked out of it, a baseball bat in hand. He turned and raised it. Alistair's eyes widened, realising what Will was about to do.
